Category: news / features

Spectators Of The Universe is the new album from Dutch producer / artist / video director David Douglas – coming up March 24. Following on from 2014’s ‘Moon Observations’, Douglas continues to perfect his interstellar sound, taking the listener on a polyrhythmic, technicolour journey through melodic, sun kissed disco and electronic music.

Inspired by the astrological writings of his 18th Century namesake (an explorer and Naturalist) he creates waves of celestial melodies, intertwining them perfectly with crisp, driving beats, swerving through the cosmos, leaving a shower of arpeggiated synths and hypnotic vocals in his wake.

From the sun-kissed disco of album opener ‘Lucine,’ to the groove-laden beats of ‘Highway of Love,’ the album constantly shifts forms. Playing with psychedelic and experimental elements and weaving organic textures alongside more robotic landscapes, highlights include swirling supernova ‘Pay No Mind’ and the ominous yet uplifting doomsday anthem, ‘Last Day On Earth.’

Having previously worked as a renowned video director, David Douglas switched his attention to music in 2012, and has since gained a reputation as one of the most expressive and all- encompassing electronica producers around. Both his 2012 ‘Royal Horticultural Society’ EP and his debut album ‘Moon Observations’ were warmly received, gathering support from the likes of Pitchfork, i-D Mag, Electronic Beats, THUMP and XLR8R.

2017 sees him continuing to push the boundaries of his music, and captivate crowds around the globe with his incredible live show (including performances at PITCH Festival, Best Kept Secret and Into The Woods) in which he utilises a wealth of analogue equipment, including his prized Roland Space Echo, which played a vital part in the creation of his signature sound.

Spectators Of The Universe is out March 24.Pre-orders are available now.

Deltawerk is a new collaborative project by Pascal Terstappen (Applescal) & Hessel Stuut (Polynation). The Amsterdam based artists created an audio/visual live set – entitled ‘passages’ – that takes you on a journey through surreal worlds and sounds.

Until summer 2017, eight tracks will be released on four different EP’s, entitled Passages EP.1, EP.2, EP.3 & EP.4. This EP is the second of the 4-series release, with remixes by Marvin & Guy and Audiojack.

Hessel Stuut is mainly known for his work as Polynation, a music act he’s producing together with Stijn Hosman that became #03 ‘Best New Act’ on XLR8R in 2015. He’s also played drums/keys in theater shows, collaborating with musicians from all over the world. Graduated from the University of the Arts (2009) and with a couple of award winning exhibitions under his belt, Hessel is also responsible for lots of Atomnation cover art and visuals for all kinds of commercial purposes.

Pascal Terstappen has been releasing music under the Applescal alias for quite a while and is the founding figure of Atomnation, the label responsible for releasing music by Sau Poler, David Douglas, Weval, Gidge, Polynation and Olaf Stuut. With a label nearing 50 releases and an impressive solo discography, Pascal is without doubt one of the most dedicated curators of the electronic music scene.

The A1 track “Corridor” was one of the highlights of Deltawerk’s sold out live show at ADE 2016. It’s an 8,5 minute workout of strings, the Arp Odyssey and a heavenly Polysix sound. Again, Terstappen & Stuut display their love for club music on their second release, which seems to be “an inventive new sound”, according to Sasha who mentioned them as new names to watch in 2017 on BBC Radio 1.

Hivern Discs and Permanent Vacation delegates Marvin & Guy remixed Corridor and gave it an even deeper transformation. The 10+ minute remix shows their skill to take club-goers to places they’ve probably never been before. And if that isn’t enough, Leeds representatives Audiojack turned Corridor into their signature tech mark. A second EP that will definitely be heard at dance floors across the globe this summer.

Gidge is a duo consisting of Jonatan Nilsson and Ludvig Stolterman from Umeå, a small city in the north of Sweden. Jonatan and Ludvig met in school at the age of 16 and quickly became good friends. They had a mutual interest for electronic music, and in their second year together, after taking a Sound Production class, they started producing music. Nine years later, they released their debut LP ”Autumn Bells” – a release that inspired music enthusiasts from all over the world.

“Autumn Bells” was an effort from the two to make an electronic album that derived out of natural sounds and moods. Together with melancholic vocal samples and warm, fuzzy chord progressions, the music of Gidge seemed to affect their audience in an emotional way, which eventually resulted in the duo taking the top spot as Best New Artist at XLR8R’s readers poll of 2014, as well as the LP ending up on numerous Best of 2014-lists.

January 13th 2017, Gidge release LNLNN. LNLNN is a 7-track mini album where Gidge continues using the woods and widths of the north as their main source of inspiration. Their latest effort is a mixture of electronic music, organic elements and samples of their 2nd LP ‘Lulin’.

Gidge will tour Europe this winter. Stops in Amsterdam, London, Zurich and Berlin are added to the calendar – check the full touring schedule + ticket links below.

“Lucine” is the brand new single from Dutch producer/artist/video director David Douglas. Following the release of his critically acclaimed debut ‘Moon Observations,’ “Lucine” is a journey through sun-kissed disco and gentle electronic pop, subtly playing with psychedelic and experimental elements and weaving organic textures alongside more robotic landscapes.

Douglas has recruited Scottish producer Alex Smoke to remix “Lucine”; and in true Smoke fashion, the single is twisted and warped into a pensive piece of electronic bliss. The remix also allowed Smoke to step away from his usual fodder, as he explains:

“Was a nice one to work on as I could approach it more like a pop record with lots of melody and putting the vocals centre-stage. The percussion parts had a lot of space to them which meant I could use more of them than I usually would. As usual I layered a lot of parts after processing in various ways, added strings for a wee dose of sadness and a bassline to move the feet.”

David Douglas – Lucine (Alex Smoke Remix) is available now – premiered at XLR8R.

We’d like to welcome you to the new Atomnation website, a place where we archive our releases, podcasts, music discoveries and news items about up and coming events.

One of the main reasons for building this place is because we were looking for a small corner on the web to collect all our content. There’s so much going on online with all the social media channels, webshops, blogs, etc etc. This place gives us the opportunity to collect and create anything we want, anytime we like.

The new atomnation.net is also home of the Discovery Blog, a place where we display our weekly music findings. Not only Atomnation artists, but also other musicians are supported here. Techno, ambient, electronica, it will all be shared here. Next to that we launched a podcast series – curated by friends and like minded artists of the label – aiming to build a stellar series of mixes.

Thanks to Sjors at Wishbone for the effort building our new home and to Hessel for finetuning the last bits of the design. We hope all of you like our new site and wish you fun surfing!

Deltawerk is a new collaborative project by Pascal Terstappen (Applescal) & Hessel Stuut (Polynation). The Amsterdam based artists created an audio/visual live set – entitled ‘passages’ – that takes you on a journey through surreal worlds and sounds.

Until summer 2017, eight tracks will be released on four different EP’s, entitled Passages EP.1, EP.2, EP.3 & EP.4. This EP is the first of the 4-series release.

The Deltawerk live performance is projected to three big screens on stage. The side screens are diagonally placed which gives the impression you fly past all kinds of worlds, through passages.

Hessel Stuut is mainly known for his work as Polynation, a music act he’s producing together with Stijn Hosman that became #03 ‘Best New Act’ on XLR8R in 2015. He’s also played drums/keys in theater shows, collaborating with musicians from all over the world. Graduated from the University of the Arts (2009) and with a couple of award winning exhibitions under his belt, Hessel is also responsible for lots of Atomnation cover art and visuals for all kinds of commercial purposes.

Pascal Terstappen has been releasing music under the Applescal alias for quite a while and is the founding figure of Atomnation, the label responsible for releasing music by Sau Poler, David Douglas, Weval, Gidge, Polynation and Olaf Stuut. With a label nearing 50 releases and an impressive solo discography, Pascal is without doubt one of the most dedicated curators of the electronic music scene.

As Deltawerk, Terstappen & Stuut fuse their love for club music and art.

Olaf Stuut returns to Atomnation December 16 with a stunning new EP, titled ‘ET’. This four-tracker is the follow up of the closing track ‘Extended Travels’, one of the highlights of his album ‘Run’ released earlier this year.

“Since Run came out I wanted to focus a little bit more on club tracks because of all the beautiful gigs I’ve had since the release, searching for more joy and fun to accompany the events I play. Every track has more of a story on it’s own instead of an overriding arch covering a whole LP. I started this EP with a follow up on the closing track of my album, Extended Travels, which is almost unrecognisable a part from the melodies. All tracks are based on jams I did during the tour.”

The prolific Amsterdam based producer manages to combine the more abstract sides of electronic music with a well-tuned club orientated character. ‘ET’ houses solid beats on ‘Evolve Tutor’ and ‘Era Terminal’, astonishing piano play on ‘Extended Travels (ExcursionTwo)’ and a more minimalistic approach on ‘Error Texture’.

Already remixing artists like The Acid, Max Cooper and Tonik Ensemble, this new EP is set to be another pin on Stuut’s shoulder. Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, Paris, Barcelona and London already had the joy to catch one of his live and DJ-sets. There’s no telling where ‘ET’ will bring him next.

Friday December 2 we’re back at De Marktkantine with a full-fledged label night. For this event mainstays Sau Poler, Polynation, Olaf Stuut & Applescal are on the bill. Sau Poler is coming over from Barcelona to play one of his beloved house / disco influenced DJ sets. Polynation & Olaf Stuut perform their ever spectacular live sets and Applescal will do what he does best: closing the night.

Amsterdam Dance Event 2016 gave us the chance to meet up with friends and colleagues from around the globe. We visited shows by label artists Gidge, Applescal, Sau Poler, Polynation, Olaf Stuut, Fran Seven, Pablie and Hessel Stuut. Great to see all of you again!

We also like to thank NGHTDVSN for hosting our label night at Het Sieraad. With legends Max Cooper, Extrawelt, Stephan Bodzin and Kiasmos in the other room we couldn’t ask for a better partner.

A report with photos and video’s can be found on our Instagram account. There’s also a recording of Fran Seven’s appearance at Het Sieraad.

‘Lucine’ is the brand new single from Dutch producer/artist/video director David Douglas. Following the release of his critically acclaimed debut ‘Moon Observations,’ ‘Lucine’ is a journey through sun-kissed disco and gentle electronic pop, subtly playing with psychedelic and experimental elements and weaving organic textures alongside more robotic landscapes. 2014’s ‘Moon Observations’ was inspired by a different star-gazer with the same name. That David Douglas was a 18th century explorer and naturalist, whose writings on astronomical observation has inspired the more modern Douglas’ latest music. Those eleven tracks of beautifully fleshed-out electronica were certainly a worthy tribute, and ‘Lucine’ continues the story in blissful fashion.

David Douglas is without doubt one of the most expressive and all-emcompassing creators around. Having previously working as an esteemed video director, he switched his focus to music, and both his 2012 ‘Royal Horticultural Society’ EP and his debut album ‘Moon Observations’ were warmly received, garnering praise from the likes of Pitchfork, i-D Mag, Electronic Beats, THUMP and XLR8R. David’s live sets are known for the substantial amount of gear he has in tow, including a Space Echo that is essential for his signature sound. His shows at PITCH Festival, Best Kept Secret and Into The Woods inspired the penning of his second full album, set to drop early next year via Atomnation. More details to come soon.